Zebrafish model for studying vascular development and vascular-related disease

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a powerful vertebrate animal model system for cardiovascular research. Their small size, optical transparency, fecundity, rapid development, remarkable regenerative capacity, and the availability of numerous fluorescent transgenic lines have made them an excellent experimental model for studying vascular development and disease. There is a high degree of conservation in the anatomy and physiology of the zebrafish vascular system relative to other vertebrates, thereby enabling zebrafish to model human vascular pathophysiology. Questions concerning genetic vascular disorders, including endothelial dysfunction, flow-induced alterations, lipid metabolism, atherosclerosis, and tumor angiogenesis, have been extensively studied in zebrafish. In this review, we describe the contribution of the zebrafish system to the current understanding of blood vessel formation and the use of zebrafish for modelling human diseases caused by dysregulated vasculatures. We also summarize the techniques, methods, and transgenic lines used to image and assess zebrafish vasculature and to study its role in the development and pathogenesis of cardiovascular conditions.